


A Short, Terrifying Conversation

by Payson_Blinde



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: But she's wonderful, F/M, Fluff, Jake has to spell it out for her, Literally everyone knows but her, Love Confessions, Oblivious Claudette, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 01:12:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13536507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Payson_Blinde/pseuds/Payson_Blinde
Summary: Jake has been tripping over himself for Claudette since he entered the Entity's Realm, but Claudette has absolutely no sense for these things. So please enjoy Jake's last-ditch effort to do the impossible, and express his feelings.





	A Short, Terrifying Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> This was incredibly quick, unrevised, and I won't pretend for a moment to be proud.
> 
> Inspired by this wonderful Tumblr post: https://dead-by-dessert.tumblr.com/post/169762214831/claudette-thats-ridiculous-jake-doesnt-have-a

It was cold. It was always cold, that was a given, but the campfire apparently wasn't feeling inspired this evening, leaving the resident popsicles to shiver in the autumn chill, clinging to their coats.  
  
Jake, on the other hand, was rather enjoying the breeze, taking refuge in the thick jacket that almost never left his shoulders. But it didn't take him more than a glance up for him to stand, take it off, and walked around the glowing hearth to sit next to her.  
  
It had been weeks, but Jake didn't have the words to describe Claudette. He'd tried to think of them, during quiet moments, watching her picking plants and mending wires, enchanted by the delicate flicks and taps of her fingers, the narrow concentration of her chocolate eyes – and, when she spotted him, the kind smile that fell over her lips. Everything about her was gentle, and endlessly thoughtful. In her every movement, she regarded even the air she breathed and the ground she stepped on with merciful familiarity.  
  
All their lives, they ran from pain. They all had their ways; Jake found it easiest to look out for himself and no one else, he always had. But when he entered the Entity's domain, he watched Claudette with awe as she took everything he believed in her hands, melted it down into muddled confusion, and cooled it into kindness. He'd watched her set aside her own work to wrap tight gauze around Meg's arms. He'd watched her sprint in front of a swinging blade to spare Nea the pain. The first trail Jake survived, she'd held him under the arm and helped him hobble all the way back to the campfire, spending hours tending to his back and chest. Jake didn't understand her in the slightest, but something – everything – about her was simply... amazing.  
  
When he found that he couldn't help his gaze drifting back to her, he didn't have a moment of uncertainty; he had to try.  
  
Now, Claudette was intelligent – incredibly so. She made all of the survivors' medicine from nothing but wild plants, and they hadn't seen an infection since. She had the patient vigilance and quick wit to tour a killer around a map for as long as she liked. In a trial, 'oblivious' was the absolute last word that could be used to describe Claudette. But, around the campfire, when Jake sat beside her, talking to her about whatever came to mind when he seldom spoke a word to anyone else, asking her about things she was interested in, brushing her arm when there was an excuse – 'oblivious' fit her like a glove. And every time he took a bit of courage and said something he was sure would show her - “You're too nice to me,” “Your eyes are beautiful,” “That's why I like you,” - she would blink, and give a laugh that would enchant him and break him. And he could feel the collective sigh of every other survivor on his neck.  
  
He'd decided to let it go. Maybe it was for the best if this didn't become anything. This was a completely different world to the one they knew. They risked and lost their lives on a weekly basis, trapped like mice put through hellish mazes, constantly reborn into the same torture, with no way out. What kind of relationship could they possibly have? What would happen if something went wrong?  
  
So he tried to drop it. He worked on focus his mind on learning and refining skills, trying his hardest to ignore the skip of his heart when she smiled at him, and the pang in his gut when he heard her scream. He tried. For weeks, he tried. But there was something missing, there was a feeling that he couldn't shake. Because he knew, he'd never given it that one last good shot, that final, all-in, this-is-stupid-but-it's-all-I-have, push. And it killed him to think what he might be missing, just because he let his fear get in the way.  
  
So today, he decided to settle it before a lack of closure proved to truly be the end of him.  
  
He sat down beside Claudette, holding his coat out toward her. “Here.”  
  
Claudette looked up at him, surprised. “Really? Are you... Are you sure?” she questioned, watching him carefully.  
  
Jake nodded, but still she looked apprehensive. “You don't have to, really. It's just a little chilly, it's not bad at all.”  
  
“Then I don't need it.” Jake answered. Still she paused. He reached out to take her hand. It was ice. “You're freezing. Take it.” he insisted.  
  
Claudette took hold of it slowly, and looked up to him with a defeated smile. “Thank you.” she murmured, and began to put it on. A low, almost sorrowful thanks from Claudette was a gem of rarity and sincerity that simply couldn't be matched. It was the only thing to put a lump in Jake's throat since he arrived.  
  
Jake nodded, and leaned back on his hands. She was lying, it was damn cold.  
  
Claudette turned toward him with that peaceful smile. “You did great out there today.”  
  
Jake looked down to his thighs for a moment. The Trapper apparently had a death warrant for Meg that trial, and he and Dwight had to drag him away from the hook so Claudette could save her. He wouldn't go far, though, and Claudette still came back with gashes.  
  
“Could have been better.” Jake answered, focusing intently on a distant tree. He didn't want to see the blood dried into Claudette's shirt while she praised him for protecting her.  
  
She tilted her head. “What do you mean? We all got out, that's the best we've done all week.”  
  
Jake turned toward her. She looked so genuinely confused. Jake answered simply, “I don't like seeing you get hurt.”  
  
Claudette gave a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, it's hard to see people in pain out there. But that's just inevitable, right?”  
  
“No, I don't like seeing you in pain. There's a difference.” Jake explained lowly, watching her.  
  
Right on cue, she gave her feather-light, ringing laugh. “That's a funny way of thinking about it,” she replied, and lowered her chin into the jacket.  
  
Jake took this last second to contemplate accepting his defeat. But again, he wouldn't have it.  
  
He sighed, and turned his body to face her. “Claudette.” His heart was beating hard enough to knock him out, but his gaze was steady. “Listen.”  
  
Claudette immediately froze, and stared at him. Her voice was small, eyes wide. “Yes?” She'd never seen that dark, focused intensity in his gaze outside of a trial.  
  
Jake took a slow, deep inhale. “When these guys come back with scars and bruises, that's one thing. When you're so much as touched when you're out there, I panic. And it's not because I'm not a great person, alright, that's not what this is. I panic because I like you.” No change in her expression. He continued. “A lot. Enough to give me a reason to be here. If we were back in the old world, I would've asked you out ages ago.” He waited, but she her lips were still, eyes unmoving. “Do you get what I mean?” he asked.  
  
Claudette nodded slowly. “I... think I do. You mean you-”  
  
Meg rolled over where she lay on her log and let out a loud groan, nearly startling Jake out of his wits. “He has a crush on you for fuck's sake,” she grumbled.  
  
Jake looked back to Claudette. Her eyelashes fluttered. A person was not supposed to look so beautiful when they're so dumbstruck. She raised a hand and pointed to herself. “Me?”  
  
Jake couldn't decide between cracking a smile and rolling his eyes, and probably ended up doing both, but his head was spinning so fast, he was hardly aware enough of himself to say. “Yeah.”  
  
Claudette looked down at her feet, her lips parted, and static bewilderment in her eyes.  
  
Jake rested with his elbows on his knees to be on the same level as her, silent for a moment, simply watching.  
  
“Just sleep on it, yeah?” Jake assured her, and stood up.  
  
“Jake,” she suddenly started, and Jake immediately looked down at her, some mix of terror and hope freezing the blood in his veins.  
  
She opened her mouth to speak again, but was silent. Her eyes flickered down to her feet, then met Jake's gaze with a look about her he hadn't seen before. He wasn't sure if it was caution, or promise, or uncertainty-  
  
“Good night,” she murmured.  
  
After a split second of consideration, Jake took a step forward. She was still. He crouched in front of her, searching her face for a moment. She was so... soft. And safe. There was something so quietly captivating, so devastatingly warm about her every feature, about every flash of emotion that crossed her lips. He wanted to see her smile, all the time, her kindness and purity glowing gently in her eyes. He wanted to pull her close, hold her in his arms, to feel the steady rise and fall of her breaths, to know they would be alright because they were together.  
  
But he held his hands to his knees. He answered, tranquil and reeling, “Good night.” and leaned forward to touch a kiss to her cheek.


End file.
